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Inspired by the works of Arthur C. Clarke, J.G. Ballard and Philip K. Dick, Infinite Summer sees Michael Lovett’s NZCA Lines “marry sci-fi futurism to personal intimacies” to produce what must surely be one of the funkiest apocalyptic concept albums of all time. Indeed, also featuring former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley and drummer Sarah Jones (Hot Chip, New Young Pony Club), the follow-up to 2012’s self-titled debut may center on […]

Named after a term used for trained assassins he heard in a documentary on espionage, Skilled Mechanics sees trip-hop trailblazer Tricky assemble his own killer team for the most collaborative studio effort of his lengthy career. Some of those on board are no stranger to the world of Adrian Thaws, including regular vocalist Francesca Belmonte who lends her sultry tones to the eerie synth-balladry of “We Begin,” drummer Luke Harris […]

As you’d expect from a founding member of studious classical-electro outfit Clean Bandit, British-Ugandan vocalist/rapper Love Ssega certainly isn’t short on brainpower. Born and raised in South London, the 24-year-old graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, then made the brave decision to quit the aforementioned Grammy winners to finish his Ph.D. in laser sensing. Love Ssega (real name Ssegawa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka) is just as cultured as he […]

Judging by all the pre-release talk of shunning EDM, steering dance music back into a proper direction and making a piece of art, you’d expect Steve Angello’s second solo LP, Wild Youth, to be something of a game-changer. So it’s slightly baffling to hear that the Stockholm DJ has delivered the kind of unadventurous, generic and largely forgettable record he appears to be rallying against. Indeed, featuring guest appearances from […]

David Bowie, arguably one of the most influential figures in modern music for the past 40-plus years, died on Sunday, Jan. 10 after a battle with cancer. He was 69. While previous rumors of his death in years past were greatly exaggerated, the news has been confirmed by Bowie’s representatives and his son Duncan Jones (via Twitter). The following statement appears on Bowie’s official Facebook page: “David Bowie died peacefully […]

So after crowning Jamie xx’s “Loud Places” and Bob Moses’ Days Gone By as the greatest single and album of 2015 respectively, we now switch our attention to what we can expect to hear over the next twelve months in the world of dance/electronica. The first big album out of the blocks this year is Moth (Jan 22), the third album from alt-pop duo Chairlift, which judging by its first […]

Take 5 Interview with Mark Z Stevens

Mark Z. Stevens is a long time drummer, a consummate studio musician, from a musical family. He’s played with Barbara Streisand among many others. We caught up with Mark at Desert Rose in Los Feliz, CA where he was performing with his Mark Z. Stevens Trio.

KIM: Did you choose music or did music choose you?

MARK: Absolutely, music chose me. My dad was a studio musician and a phenomenal trumpet player. I never realized that everyone didn’t grow up in a musical environment. It never occurred to me until I was in my 20s. From the time I was conceived, I heard music all the time. My dad was always practicing, my mom was a piano player; there was always music in my home. I was always surrounded by it. Again, it never occurred to me that everyone else did not share that experience.

KIM: Who were your mentors; who inspired you?

MARK: In the very, very beginning I was self-taught, so I did a lot of listening. There were a few clubs I could get into, being young in high school, I used to go. There’s a place Les McCann used to play. Because it was a coffee house, I could get in when I was 16 or 17-years-old. I loved going to hear live music. I went to hear the LA Phil a lot. My background is fairly deep, in terms of different kinds of music. I grew up listening to different kinds of music in my home. Both my parents listened to classical music, obviously jazz, and Latin stuff.

I used to go with my dad to recording sessions. A lot of the drummers people never even heard of were in their own way, very influential in what I heard, what I saw. I got to see a side of music that most people don’t see. All the studio guys were just amazing. They are craftspeople. The demand is that you play anything that is put in front of you. Having watched that kind of stuff, I would have to say that was my earliest mentoring. At the time I didn’t play drums. I studied classical piano and I studied trumpet with my dad. I was always fascinated by the drummers on the sessions. I was magnetically drawn to that. That is kind of how things came to be.

KIM: Who or what is most important in the recording studio?

MARK: I would have to say you have a combination of two things: You have fantastic studio players that really can play anything. The other side of the glass is if you don’t have a really good engineer that really understands music. The guys that were my favorite engineers were all musicians, all came from a musical background, know what instruments sound like. The buck stops there. You can be the best player, you can have the best orchestra, if you don’t have an engineer in the booth that can capture that, it’s useless, it’s a waste. It’s really two things: It’s got to be a great performance and it has to really be a good recording.

I’m lucky to have worked with some fantastic engineers who have great ears. They walk around; they see how things sound in real life. Then that’s translated to hearing it in the booth. It ideally should sound just like what it sounded like out on the floor. I have a tremendous respect for engineers because my drums can sounds great, but if they don’t record that way and the engineer isn’t savvy, I’m up the creek with no paddle.

KIM: Today’s music: evolution or de-evolution?

MARK: No, I think music is constantly in a state of evolution, in a state of change, and in a state of historically significant things that came before. In a sense, everything that I’ve ever listened to and anything anyone else that plays an instrument has ever listened to is a tremendous influence on
what they produce.

KIM: What’s the coolest thing that ever happened to you because you were a musician?

MARK: Oh, God. I don’t think I could pick one coolest thing. I think beginning at a tremendously early age, when I used to go with my dad to sessions; just being in the room and near a brass section with all this stuff going on just made the hair at the back of my neck stand up. It’s so exciting to be just surrounded by live music. From then on, I’ve had so many experiences that are peak experiences. There are so many, we could be here for days. I worked with Barbara Streisand live, when Claus Ogerman was conducting and it’s was a huge orchestra. Again, because the drums were center stage, Barbara was right in front of me. Every night she’d just sing one tune with just Claus Ogerman playing piano. Honest to God, the hair on my arms and the back of my neck . . . I never heard anything that magical. It’s just one of those magic moments where you could hear a pin drop. She nailed it night after night. Every night it would be the same thing. I’d just lose my breath, it’s just breathtaking.

I’ve had a lot of experiences like that where everything . . . for lack of a better term, there’s a magic that happens and you can’t make it happen, it’ just when you become one with what is going on; everybody’s listening. It just happens. For lack of a better word, it is a chemistry thing or magic thing. I think if you talk to other musicians, that moment, that feeling is going to come up. It’s not anything that anyone plans on or makes happen. It’s just when everyone is functioning and listening, and the unit becomes a whole. Those are just fantastic moments. I’m very fortunate because they happen all the time, and you never know when it’s going to happen.

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About the Author

Kim Nilseek ran into the reality he was stone tone deaf in the 60s when he was told to move his mouth but emit no volume for graduation singing. Not one to let his enthusiasm for music be denied, Kim turned his passion into reporting and has been covering music since the 70s. He was there for Woodstock, Hendrix, the Beatles, Stones, Dylan and Donovan before moving to Hawaii where his video coverage of local acts helped the resurgence of Hawaiian music. His favorite group of all time is Little Feat (Lowell George version). Today, his vision of music coverage has resulted in MIMO. He hopes you enjoy the efforts of the staff, all much more musically inclined than he is.